Light Dragons 03 - Sparks Fly

for.”
    “Yes, but now you need something to trade for it. I don’t suppose Baltic would give up Dauva?”
    I sighed. “The only things that stand higher than Dauva in Baltic’s affections are Brom, Pavel, and me. So no, trading Dauva for Dragonwood is out of the question. I need something else, something of great value that he would want. Hmm.”
    “I’d offer you the dragon shard that chose our sept, but ... well, I’m not sure that’s kosher, so to speak,” May said. “Not to mention that Gabriel wouldn’t let the shard go.”
    “No, I wouldn’t take your shard,” I said, smiling at May. The fact that she, too, had once borne the same shard of the dragon heart, most important relic of all dragonkin, that I had borne so many centuries ago, made me feel especially comfortable around May, as if we were old, old friends. “I can only imagine what the First Dragon would have to say about the idea of us using the shards to buy something so esoteric as a house.”
    “Jim, will you stop it?” Aisling frowned at the big black demon as it rubbed its nose on her hand. “If you need to go walkies, you are excused.”
    “Baltic doesn’t have any big stacks of gold lying around his lair?” May asked, looking as thoughtful as Aisling did. “Not that I’m trying to pry, but you know how dragons are about gold-I’d think that even Kostya could be swayed by it.”
    I glanced at Drake, who was watching Aisling with a glint in his eyes that hinted he’d rather be alone with her. “Er ... that’s pretty much earmarked for Dauva, I’m afraid.”
    “No valuable-Jim, so help me, if you wipe your nose on me one more time-no valuable, oh, what do you call them, dragonny things?”
    “Dragonny things?” Drake asked her.
    “You know, the valuable things. Relics and that sort of stuff. Jim! That’s it! I am sick and tired of you. You can speak again, so go tell Suzanne you need to go for a walk.”
    “I don’t have any relics, and Kostya cleaned out Baltic’s lair before we got to it, so I’m afraid anything that was stashed away is long gone,” I said sadly, my heart breaking when I thought of my beloved Dragonwood being inhabited by strange dragons.
    “Man, Ash, I’m never going to be on your team for charades,” Jim said with an injured sniff. “I wasn’t doing the pee-pee dance, I was doing the ‘I have something important to say but you keep ordering me to silence because you’re all bossy now that you have spawn to push around’ nose bumps.”
    “What important thing do you have to say?” she asked, wiping her hand on the napkin. “And it had better be very important.”
    “It’s just a way to help Soldy, that’s all. Just a way for her to get back that house she loves so much, the one that acts as vision central for her,” the demon answered blithely, sitting down and staring at the two remaining pieces of flatbread.
    “What is that?” I asked the demon.
    It cocked an eyebrow at the food.
    I picked up the flatbread. “If your idea of something important is one of your usual, ridiculous ideas, Jim-”
    “It’s not! I promise, it’s great,” it answered, a thin line of slobber creeping out of its furry flews.
    “Oh, for the love of Pete. Where’s your drool cloth? Not on Drake’s nice carpet!” Aisling whipped a napkin around the dog’s neck, mopping up its wet mouth before nodding to me. “Go ahead and give it to Jim, Ysolde, but that’s your treat for the day.”
    I gave the dog the piece of flatbread. “And your idea?”
    Jim gulped down the appetizer, licking its lips loudly. “Yum. That ham makes the whole thing.”
    “Jim,” I said warningly.
    “OK, OK, no need to look like you’re going to turn me into a human again,” it said, quickly backing up until it was pressed against Aisling. “That was sheer and utter hell being out of my magnificent form. My idea is this: you need something to barter with, right?”
    “Yeees,” I said slowly, suspicious despite my interest.
    “Something fabulous like that thing that May stole from Kostich.”
    I looked at May in surprise. “You stole something valuable from Dr. Kostich?”
    “Magoth-he’s the demon lord I used to be bound to-had me steal a minor object,” she said with a wry smile. “But I ended up taking a quintessence. For a day. I returned it the next day once I realized what it was.”
    I goggled at her. “You stole a quintessence? Those are so valuable that they’re literally priceless.”
    “Yes,